Dulcetly
by Royal blueKitsune
Summary: He'd made up his mind and no force on this Earth could make him change it. Not even his obnoxious relatives. Hikaru/Lantis
1. Chapter 1

Title: Chains

Author: Royal blueKitsune

Pairing: Lantis/Hikaru

Rating: Let's just say that Santa can bring me presents this year if I keep it up this way. xD

Genre: Pointless fluff/romance

Disblaimer: Hikaru, Lantis aren't mine...no witty extras to be added for now.

_Author's notes:_ Reposted separately because I've decided that I have too many drabble collections - no more Dulcetly. From now on, drabbles in this fandom will be posted separately.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to pick up your coat and leave? There's still time you know. Primera, your family, your position as a CEO, all that wealth and fame..."

"Can just do me the favor of leaving me in my peace and solitude." Lantis drawled out, coming out of the bathroom with his shirt half unbuttoned and the black tie hanging loosely around his neck.

Hikaru smiled prettily at him - not really having meant anything serious by her question and ready to cry and break down if he actually listened to her - and briefly entertained the thought of raising herself on tiptoes to kiss his newly shaved cheek and smell the lingering aroma of aftershave and soap.

She flipped the pancakes and sighed almost petulantly, giving the ring on her finger a slight touch...just to make sure she hadn't dreamt her marriage ceremony. "So you would leave all that glamour just for a little _peasant_ girl with no class, virtually no money and more than ordinary looks to boot?"

There was a short moment in which the air around them seemed to stand still and the world stopped revolving. Then Lantis turned to her with steel in his eyes and Hikaru knew that she had said the wrong thing. The really, really wrong thing.

"Don't look at me like that...I'm just quoting your elders. Is it my fault that they don't hold any respect for those they believe to be beneath them?"

_Those presumptuous fools_. He wrenched his cuff-links open and moved forward to wrap his arms around her waist from behind, "I feel nothing but gratitude for having justified reasons to break off the engagement."

"Oh, so now I'm a justified reason?" She craned her head upwards to wrinkle her nose at him. "Here I thought you took me out of love."

He smiled indulgently at the way her mouth curved downwards in a frown - such a tempting mouth too; with that bow shaped upper lip that made him want to sample - and fondly stroked her hair in a calming gesture. "If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. My father and the elders of the family will just have to accustom themselves with the idea that the once _proud_ heir of Moonlight.inc has abandoned his privileges for a less fortunate position..."

The _barely-there_ sarcasm lacing his voice made her laugh. "Your mother seemed to like me that first time we met - ignoring the fact that I was only the friend your cousin had invited to the cocktail party; your brother was cordial too...circumstances are a little different now but I hope that nothing has changed. Did they call to disown you yet?"

Sarcasm was catchy sometimes.

"Not yet. They wouldn't dare, especially considering that my mother was once in your position. My brother doesn't care as long as he has his wife." Lantis stated simply, covering her hand with his to lift the pan from the fire...before the pancakes took a too healthy tan for his tastes.

Hikaru was too fascinated by the newly discovered facts to care. "Are you serious? Really? _Really?_" What a strange family she had married into.

Lantis shrugged. "My father suffers from selective memory when it suits him. The elders are too annoyed that the son was like the father in so many aspects."

His wife grinned and snatched the pancakes from him, skipping to the table to - unceremoniously - deposit them on the plates. "In that case I don't have anything to worry about...other than your fiancée who is sure to appear one of these days to have a _'woman to woman'_ talk with me and Umi who is bound to try to strangle us for not announcing her that we eloped beforehand."

Hikaru waved the spatula at him playfully and unconsciously chose to pour less syrup on his batch than she did on hers. She knew his selective displeasure for overly sweet foods too well. "She is _your_ cousin after all and from what I've seen stubborn tempers run in the family. Sooooo...pancakes?"

Lantis nodded and covered the distance to the table in two long strides, sitting down and casually pulling his little wife in his lap for a promising first breakfast together.

It seemed hard to believe - knowing his relatives- but Lantis had finally come to the conclusion that he'd spent half of the previous night - between watching his wife sleep and threading his fingers thought her hair - pondering the matter of a possible family reunion in vain. It was obvious that he had _nothing_ to worry about when it came to introducing Hikaru into the family. Easy as that.

If anything, Lantis mused, his elders wouldn't know what hit them. He suppressed a faint smile at the thought.

Now that was something to actually look forward to.

* * *

I was beginning to think that my muses had died a horrible and slow death.


	2. Chapter 2

Ye Gods! Run for your lives. It's _the_ sequel. xDD And just when I'd thought that I had at least a few stories completed...I'm afraid for the future.

**Warning:** Towards the end. I don't know what I'm warning you for - because it's barely there - but be warned!

* * *

_Midnight Calls_

* * *

She'd been dreading _the_ phone call for the last three days. She'd known it was coming, known what it would entail - the mother of all headaches undoubtedly - and of course what the consequences were. Lantis had even given her a warning beforehand...just in case.

Just in case, she mumbled to herself, vaguely hearing the phone ring in a remote corner of the bedroom.

Hikaru had known just what she'd gotten into when she'd married Lantis - the younger son of the big shot boss at and she'd also known that she would have to eventually talk to her husband's family, maybe get introduced properly to his mother and _maybe_ see her father-in-law in reality and not just in magazines. She _hadn't_ known though that she'd have to do most of those complicated things in the middle of the night, at two o'clock to be more exact. Alone. With Lantis out of the town for just one night - due to business of course.

_Oh God!_

The phone rang again and Hikaru raised her head from her mountain of pillows, where she'd retreated to try and forget that she was sleeping alone, half drowsy and half scared out of her wits. If such a combination was possible at small hours.

_There was no doubt in her mind that only her husband's eccentric family could call at this abnormal hour. Normal people slept - the Kail family rose above such mundane activities._

The phone continued on relentlessly, completely ignoring her worried thoughts, and she crawled out of bed, suddenly finding that the device she'd thought so far away was actually at the foot of her bed.

Apparently, death was eager to meet her. Her left eye twitched and Hikaru caught herself before she did something ridiculous - like straightening her clothes or mussed hair...as if someone could actually see her.

_Ring. Ring. Ring!_

_What if they were hysterical because of a bad alliance? What if they disowned her husband because of her and what if-_

Hikaru picked up the phone and tried to remember what Umi sounded like when she wanted to seem larger than life.

"Yes?" She 'meeped' nervously, wanting to be done with this as soon as possible.

_This was **not** how Umi sounded. Ever._

"Hi-ka-ru! Just the person I wanted to talk to." Umi drawled from the other side of the phone...sounding intimidating even miles away. At least Hikaru presumed - and silently hoped. She'd die of a heart attack if Umi upped and told her that she was coming up in five minutes or something like that.

_No point in prolonging things to a torturous point. Lantis would want her to face this bravely. Hikaru wanted that of herself as well. No way was she a spineless scaredy-cat and no way did she want to show such a weak side to her newly acquired family. All she had to do was to remember where she'd left her courage when she'd gone to sleep...simple, wasn't it?_

"You're angry." She drew in a deep breath, curling the wire around her finger. Lesson number one - being frank with Umi, made for a happy Umi. The bluenette disliked it the most when people tried to sweet talk her until the world spun around her.

"Noooooooo...I'm not. I'm just disappointed, Hikaru. Two different notions. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to be with my cousin and one of my best friends at their own wedding." Hikaru winced. Sounded like a storm at sea. Bad, bad, bad. "Actually, no! Scratch that one! I'm disappointed because I _didn't even know that my cousin and one of my best friends were getting hitched. Or that you were in love for that matter!_"

Hikaru sighed. After all this time, she still didn't know how to abate Umi's anger. Though Umi generally thought the same thing about herself.

"Sorry, Umi." It was the only logical - and real - thing she could say under the circumstances. "We didn't think it would come to this. We planned to tell everyone, inform our families and settle any problems." Her voice took on a dreamy quality, "Lantis wanted me to have anything that would make me happy; he didn't want to rush..."

"Hikaru," Umi responded, sounding more understanding.

"But you know...his father and his newly announced engagement...Lantis thought that if anyone knew before everything was completed, we would...you know." The truth - in broken fragments spoken by a babbling twit. How _wonderful_

"Be separated?" Umi mirrored her earlier sigh and Hikaru could almost see her dear friend passing a hand through her hair; her trademark gesture. "I wouldn't have allowed such a thing, Karu. you know I wouldn't have - if I had _only_ known."

"But I'm just a secretary..." Hikaru whispered, suddenly shy about herself. Technically, she'd never been shy about her position in life. She'd always had everything she'd ever wanted...perhaps not in the way most people liked to see _everything_, but still she'd never lacked in things that had truly been important to her.

Her parents, her three older and overprotective brothers, her family's dojo, her Hikari, a good education and a sensible breeding. A heart which she hoped was good and emotions which she liked to believe were gentle and open towards others.

She had never looked for grandeur, money, fame or pride. Her lot in life was good without her being a master in academics or some sort of scholar - she was smart, with a good head on her shoulders, and that was enough for her.

Or it _had_ been good enough for her until Lantis had walked into her life and turned everything upside down. The day she'd become his secretary, had been the day that Hikaru had discovered that she would've liked to have have been more. Better.

It had been a shock when he'd looked her way - ignoring the worldly and beautiful women around him. It still was a shock.

Lantis had tried to convince her, before she'd actually given in to him, that he was smitten about her. He still did...only now, he had more _convincing_ methods to back up his claims as well. The types that sparked raw fire in her blood and left her breathless in the aftermath.

"A _secretary?_" Umi intoned sarcastically. "Well what do you know...I never thought about that. I'm sorry. I forgot I should've been a _snob_!"

"Umi," Hikaru chided, inwardly beaming that Umi still took her side so passionately. "That's not nice!"

"Who cares? We...we're moving away from the real subject here! I still have to give you an earful about this. Do you even know what I've had to hear from my uncle these last few days? He keeps mumbling about his 'stupid son' every five minutes or so and if he's _not_ beating down his 'reckless heir', he's rambling about meeting his new daughter-in-law like a madman. Says that the _clan_ needs to meet the new addition...the clan Hikaru! Like we're the freaking italian mafia or something!" Umi raved, stopping for a few moments to breathe in deeply. Hikaru tried to wrap her mind around each subject separately.

So much...she was feeling dizzy. She hadn't realized that so many complications could come off from just one marriage, Hikaru thought, absently combing a hand through her long, red hair.

Being related to this family sounded downright dangerous. Lantis and Umi were probably the few off-key elements that pertained to normalcy.

"This is going to be big, Karu." Umi added, a little more subdued now that she'd spilled her own frustrations to a willing listener. "_Everyone_ wants to meet you and this is not negotiable. In light of such, consider yourself forgiven on my part. You'll have enough issues with your husband's father soon enough."

Hikaru blanched and hugged herself protectively. "You're a sadist.

"I know," Umi cackled gleefully. "Eagle tells me that all the time. He's right too. Now...is my dearest cousin there by any chance? I want to have a word with him too..."

In the silence of her apartment, Hikaru heard the front door opening with a nearly soundless click. She half raised herself from the bed, feeling pleasure bloom in her stomach. Along with anticipation of course. "Now he is." She mirrored Umi's gleeful tone.

_It was after all her honeymoon still._

"Someone sounds happy..." Umi sing-songed. "Tell me, Karu...is he worth having to meet my family?"

"Oh for God's sake, Umi," Hikaru moaned, feeling that enough was enough. "Does your family plan to eat me for dinner? Don't say _yes_ unless you've talked to the cook, please and let me worry about your inhuman relatives. If I married Lantis, I can cope with his father just fine. Wait...does his mother hate me too?"

Umi laughed openly but it almost passed unnoticed when her husband stepped into their bedroom.

Hikaru's giddiness doubled at the sight of him - dark, rugged and disheveled after a day's worth of work. He was shrouded in shadows and yet his eyes were bright enough for her to notice the harsh glitter of blue.

No doubt he'd put two and two together and _knew_ just what type of conversation she was having. And he worried...how sweet. In a possessive and domineering type of way.

She waved at him and put a finger to her mouth to shush any possible, oncoming, protests, smiling widely to let him know that nothing was fundamentally wrong with her.

Umi would never say anything hurtful (to anyone she liked anyway).

Some of the tension left his shoulders and Hikaru hummed as she listened to her friend reassure her that at least in this aspect, she was safe from the insanity factor. Then, just when Hikaru thought that the conversation was becoming too much for her willpower - especially since Lantis had just discarded his shirt - Umi's sixth, womanly sense seemed to tingle and she quickly made an excuse to end it...claiming that she'd given Hikaru enough attention for one night and that if she passed to her cousin now, Eagle would feel left out.

And she didn't want him to feel _neglected_ in any way.

Hikaru chuckled and put the phone down, face beet red, and wondered if someone had suddenly turned the heat on.

"Umi?" Lantis inquired, low enough to send shivers down her spine.

Hikaru nodded, trying to ignore the need to pounce and thinking herself rather ridiculous for even entertaining such needs when serious talks were to be had. "She called to let us know that she wanted to strangle us and to let me know that your father is on to me."

Her husband looked less than amused and Hikaru untangled herself from the sheets, trying to ignore the fact that she was wearing his shirt and he wasn't wearing _anyone's_ - _giggle_ - and wrapped herself around him like a kitten in need of milk. "Don't pout. You were the one who told me it would happen. We went and married in secret and you can't be mad at your father because of me, okay? I'd feel bad."

The harsh lines around his mouth softened a bit and Hikaru didn't really have a warning when he suddenly leaned down and kissed her. _Well...kissed her was downplaying it a bit. Pshhh. Actually, it was a figure of speech. Her husband's kiss had more to do with melting her knees rather than just a proper skin to skin contact. He had this very unfair advantage over her because he slanted his mouth over hers just so..._

"Weren't we...talking?" Hikaru panted, pulling back slightly. Lantis flexed the arm around her tapered waist and crushed her back to his chest, settling in the chair behind him with her on his lap. And if her mouth was busy chastising him, he contented himself with placing butterfly kisses on her jaw and throat. For now.

Hikaru couldn't complain heartily.

"Of course," there went the first button on her shirt, the redhead thought, wondering if he was looking for a blush in her cleavage. It sure looked that way to her. "I admit...I never realized how much an _exciting_ subject my father could be."

"Lantis!" Hikaru squeaked outraged, unable to decide whether she should be horrified or simply burst into uncontrollable laughter. The second had a certain appeal at the moment. "I'm serious."

"So am I," he replied simply, slipping the hand on her thigh _further up north_.

Oh...my. He hadn't been kidding when he'd said he was serious.

"Talk...later then?" She panted, struggling not to dig her nails in his shoulders.

"Much _much_ later."

* * *

Umi and Eagle...Kiera, this is all your fault! You and _Ice and Snow_! If you ever read this, know that I hold you accountable for any future disaster I might write.


End file.
